Display Case

Video, 2014, 10´14´´

The
video was filmed during one weekend in April of 2014 at the Central
Armed Forces Museum in Moscow. On this day there were especially many
visitors at the museum, mostly school classes. All of them were in
high spirits due to the fact that Crimea has recently become Russian
again. The exhibition, mainly intended to encourage patriotic
feelings in the audience, allowed them to be proud of the victories
and valour of the Russian-Soviet Army.

Only one display case,
located in a space between the two main halls, was dedicated to the
concentration camps as “one of the episodes” of World War II. Two
aspects were particularly emphasised in the presentation: firstly,
that there were war prisoners among the captives and secondly, the
utilitarian use of human bodies for industry.

The video work
documents the various reactions of the visitors in front of the display
case. It is significant that not a single adult mentions the word
“Holocaust”, because ideologically it does not suit the museum's
concept. Nonetheless, some of the teenagers possess some, however
vague, knowledge of the fact that “concentration camps had
something to do with Jews”.